MARGAO
Thirty-one years after it came into existence in the year 1990, the Maina Curtorim police station is finally relocated to its own jurisdiction after functioning from the South Goa district headquarters, Margao over the last three decades.
People may be still looking forward for an independent police station building on the acquired land at Sonsodo as the police station is presently housed in a government school building.
More than anything else, however, Curtorkars and people from the surrounding villages are anxiously awaiting the exit of the proposed Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp on the sprawling one lakh square meters of Leprosy hospital land in the village.
While the Chief Minister was quick to hand out a promise to build a full-fledged building for the Maina Curtorim police station on the Sonsodo acquired land, the government is maintaining a stoic silence on the objections raised by the villagers of Maina-Curtorim and the surrounding villagers to the IRB camp proposed in their backyard.
The Chief Minister has promised to address all issues concerning Curtorim, even patting Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco on his back, for espousing public causes, but the CM has sounded non-committal on the IRB row, even as the villagers are bracing for a sustained battle against the project.
The issue echoed at the South Goa Zilla Panchayat meeting last week when the Curtorim ZP member Michelle Rebello stood up to demand scrapping of the IRB from Curtoriim. Like many a villager, Michele was categorical in pointing out that Leprosy hospital land ought to be only utilized for public utility projects relating to health and medical institutions. “The Leprosy hospital cannot be a place for an IRB training camp or to set up barracks. The camp and the barracks can come up anywhere, but this land which once played host to the Leprosy hospital should be used only for medical and health related purpose”, Michelle asserted.
Curtorim villagers have echoed similar sentiments, even demanding that the IRB camp can be set up on the SEZ land, Verna.
Curtorim sarpanch Milagres Rodrigues pointed out that the villagers have unanimously favoured that the leprosy hospital land should be utilized only for health related projects. “Time and again, the issue figured at the gram sabhas and panchayat meetings and there’s unanimous opinion in favour of the land utilized for health project”, he said.
Ex-Curtorim Zilla Panchayat member Moreno Rebello, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, besides MLA Regnaldo Lourenco has all strongly batted for a health related project on the leprosy hospital land. In fact, Sardinha had come out with a proposal to set up a research or even a virology centre on the leprosy hospital land.
Says ex-ZP member Moreno: “We want to know the government’s clear stand on the IRB camp. The project had been opposed at gram sabhas several times, but the project is very much on the agenda. One thing is clear that people will not allow the project come what may”.
Curtorim bio-diversity Committee Chairman J Santan Rodrigues said the panel had proposed to the government to declare the leprosy hospital land as a heritage area. “The land has rich flora and fauna. The trees date back to decades. It plays host to a Chapel and a cemetery. The State bio-diversity Board had backed our proposal to declare the entire land as a heritage site”, Santan informed.
I am with people, will raise the
issue in Assembly: Reginaldo
MARGAO: Asserting that he fully supports the demand of villagers against the IRB camp, Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has said he would once again raise the issue on the floor of the House in the forthcoming Session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
“I am with the people of Curtorim in demanding the scrapping of the IRB camp. I had raised the people’s opposition in the Assembly in the past and will do so in the coming session. I am with the people”, he said.
Asked why Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has not accepted his demand for scrapping of the IRB project in Curtorim when the CM is on record praising him for his good work, Reginaldo said the Chief Minister has assured me that the project will be kept on hold for the moment. “Since the people of Curtorim are opposed to the IRB camp, I will continue raising the issue at various forums till the project is scrapped. Initially, the government wanted to set up the project on land admeasuring one lakh square meters. Then, they came out with a proposal to set up the camp only on 40,000 square meters. The people want a total scrapping of the project”, he asserted.
